Times Square 1943, Smoking camel sign

February 06, 2012

Times Square 1943, Smoking camel sign

My second Times Square photo from 1943 by John Vachon, colorized.
Note the lights left on the second floor. These are the small things that bring a photo to life.

The Camel sign was located on the Claridge Hotel ( Broadway, between 43rd and 44th Streets) until the hotel, which served as a location for the film “Midnight Cowboy” was replaced with an office building.

Another view of the same exact sign.

The Camel sign was designed by Douglas Leigh in 1941.

Here is an original pencil sketch for the sign's design.

1942 New year, new sign.

During WWII, the image switched from soldiers to sailors to airmen

The sign was puffing out smoke for 25 years

up until 1966.

For this colorizing project I had a lot of photos and videos in color to look at.

I tried my best to stick to the real colors from the historical photos I found.

In its early years the sign blow out perfect rings of smoke every 4 second, but it seams like
that feature stopped working shortly there after.

What I found interesting was that the Camel sign changed faces throughout the war.
Featuring service men from all branches of the US military.

1944

V.E day

Note that the Whisky sign is not up yet as apposed to V. J. day

V.J. day, August 14, 1945

1947

H. Armstrong Roberts

Photographer Douglas Leigh

1948

.Photo by willem van de poll. 1948

film of smoking camel

1949

Photographer: Helen Hobbs May 1948

1951

1953

1954

1954 photo by Marvin E. Newman

Walker Evans, Billboards in Times Square, New York, 1952

The Walker Evans photo (which I found 2 years after I colorized the

John Vachon photo) made me realize that I got the colors for the hotel walls and sign totally wrong.

Phil Silvers AKA Sgt. Bilko was featured on the Camel cigarets sign

in 1955

Times Square, 1955

Photo: Frank Paulin   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDh5n4RTmms

Phil Silvers as "shrewd sgt. Bilko" on TV guide

Oct 29th 1955

1955

1958

Photo by Benn Mitchell

Miroslav Sasek, illustrator

1916-1980

1959

1959 Actor CARL BETZ And Wife Lois

1959 (Note that the pepsi battles are gone)

This is the same location in the 60's

James Burke - High Heels, NYC, 1960

1961,

Actresses Millette Alexander and Louise King, and nightclub entertainer Ted Lewis, stand

outside a giant mailbox stamp selling booth in Times Square, New York City, while Assistant

Postmaster Aquiline F. Weierich dispenses stamps from inside booth.

The mailbox includes an injunction to use Zone numbers

(the precursor to Zip codes in large cities).